MSF concludes activities in Panama amid drastic drop in migration flows

The closure comes as a result of significantly decreased migration flows following regional policy changes.  

“We arrived in Panama in 2021 after migrant patients in Mexico told us about the extreme difficulties they were experiencing in the Darién jungle, and between 2022 and 2024 we treated the highest number of migrants in the country's recent history,” says Altair Saavedra, MSF’s medical coordinator in Panama. “Given the decrease in transit, we have decided to conclude our intervention, but we continue to monitor migration in the region to provide support if critical needs arise.”

From April 2021 to August 2025, MSF teams conducted 163,000 medical consultations and 8,100 mental health consultations. Among these, MSF treated 1,955 survivors of sexual violence.   

Decreasing migration flows

The number of people crossing the Darién Gap—a jungle between Colombia and Panama—on their way to the United States began to decline significantly in July 2024 due to increased border security and political uncertainty in Venezuela. This trend has intensified under the second Trump administration, and its suspension of key asylum and refugee programs, among others.  

Between 2021 and 2024, 1.2 million people from various nationalities crossed the Darién Gap. However, between January and August 2025, only 2,941 migrants did so, according to Panama's National Migration Service.

Over the past four years, MSF teams have adapted their location and response to changes in routes and decisions made by the authorities regarding the migration crisis. MSF alternated its presence between two Indigenous host communities, Bajo Chiquito and Canaán Membrillo, and two temporary migration reception stations established by the Panamanian government.  

“We have assisted hundreds of thousands of people who have arrived visibly exhausted and severely affected after crossing the jungle,” says Saavedra. “In addition to the risks posed by the terrain, they have also suffered violence at the hands of armed individuals, including robberies, kidnappings, and sexual violence.” 

Between March and October 2024, MSF had to stop its work in Darién because an agreement with the Panamanian Ministry of Health was not renewed. From October 2, MSF worked in the country on giras médicas—three-month medical permits—to provide assistance to migrants in transit and to the local population. 

Responding to migrants’ humanitarian needs

Between February and May, MSF worked at the temporary migration reception station in San Vicente, where dozens of people from different countries—most deported from the United States—were concentrated. MSF's primary focus was on providing psychological care. In June 2025, following the closure of the Darién Gap route, MSF launched a three-month emergency response in the province of Colón to assist migrants in reverse flow from North America, mainly Venezuelans, who were heading to South America by sea.  

“Most of the returning migrants that I spoke to [in Colon] had either been kidnapped or had witnessed extreme violence in Mexico, Central America, or when crossing the Darién Gap,” says Derly Sánchez, MSF mental health coordinator in Panama. “They had normalized these experiences because their priority was to find somewhere to sleep and to obtain food and water. Although mental health consultations focused on post-traumatic stress and anxiety, it was challenging to provide mental health care when basic needs were not being met.”

“In the communities of Miramar and Palenque, we found that the water was heavily contaminated, so migrants went up to three days without drinking,” Sánchez adds. “They spent the night outdoors in the doorways of houses and had great difficulty obtaining the money to continue their journey ... This is why we implemented a strategy to provide drinking water at the health post, as well as distributing hygiene kits containing toilet paper, sanitary pads, toothbrushes, and soap, and mosquito nets.”

In this region, the most common issues addressed were mental health symptoms caused by feelings of uncertainty about the future and violent events that migrants had experienced at different points along their journey. “It is very sad to see that some people have gotten used to being kidnapped and even seeing murders,” says Sánchez. “Sometimes their basic needs were so urgent that they would say, ‘I was kidnapped and tortured, but now I don't have time to talk about it because I need to find somewhere to sleep.’”

MSF concluded all its activities in Panama during the first week of September 2025. “We recognize the coordinated effort with the authorities and other humanitarian organizations, which was essential to ensure access to quality health services during this period of humanitarian crisis,” says Saavedra.